A 6-4, 6-4 win over South Africa’s Kevin Anderson suggests Roger Federer is at
last finding some form at the end of a miserable season.

The tennis lovers of London can relax at last, for Roger Federer has finally sealed his place at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals next week.

A 6-4, 6-4 win against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in Bercy on Wednesday night ended the debate, and suggested that Federer is at last finding some form at the end of a miserable season.

Federer is still not at his imperious best. There was a late wobble when he needed two attempts at serving the match out. In the end, though, he was too slick for Anderson, and must feel that he is gathering confidence and momentum after a run of five wins in six outings.

“Is it where I want to be?” Federer asked himself afterwards. “No. But I definitely feel an improvement over Basel [where he reached the final on Sunday]. It’s true I had to get up again after being sort of knocked down numerous times this year. Now I feel really good again, probably for the first time since Dubai [in March].”

We could put this end-of-season rally down to his decision to sack his coach Paul Annacone a fortnight ago. But then the indoor leg of the season is usually kind to him, because the absence of any wind or sun tends to favour the more aggressive hitters - the ones who come forward at every opportunity and aim for the lines.

Perhaps his recent travails have taken the edge off Federer’s ambition, but he remains a natural aggressor. Even if his biceps do not bulge quite as powerfully as some of his built-up rivals, he still unleashes that liquid forehand with a racket-head speed that few can match. Philipp Kohlschreiber, the German world No 23, will be the next man to go up against it.

“I’m just happy right now to have made it again [to the World Tour Finals],” Federer said. “It’s one of the goals I set myself at the beginning of the year. I could feel out there that the way I was taking decisions, the way I was moving, it was very clear-cut. No second guessing.

“I know why the year was difficult for me. It’s not because I can’t make a forehand anymore. It’s because I had physical injuries, and I still played in spite of the injuries because I’m not going into a corner and waiting for four months. Little by little I lost my confidence in my movements, in my game. But it was not that bad, because I just qualified for London.”

Meanwhile, the battle for No 1 is not quite done for the season, despite Rafael Nadal's extraordinary dominance over the past eight months. He leads Novak Djokovic by a measly 550 points - roughly the reward for reaching a Masters final - but Wednesday night’s 7-5, 7-5 win against his compatriot Marcel Granollers has shored his position up a little.

After the match, Nadal was quite open about what he saw as a sub-standard performance. “I didn’t play well tonight,” he said afterwards. “Something that can happen after two weeks without playing and after a long time without playing indoors. The rhythm of my legs was poor. I’m slower than usual, and [made] a lot of mistakes.

“But the victories on days that you are not playing well have much more value than the victories on days that you played well,” Nadal added, more brightly.

“I am probably one of these players that won more matches in my career without playing well, and that’s why I had the chance to be probably to where I am today.”

He now faces Jerzy Janowicz on Thursday, the 6ft 8in Pole who was a finalist here last year.